A Trivia Test On Baseball Players From The Past

April 06, 1986|The Morning Call

See if you can figure out who we're referring to. The facts relate to a person from baseball's past and are supplied by The Sporting News' Baseball Trivia Book. Spend the bucks for the book. It's worth it. The answers are at the end of the column.

Don't peek.

- His two-run, 11th-inning home run off Billy Muffett of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 23, 1957, clinched the National League pennant for the Milwaukee Braves. The Braves' 4-2 triumph gave Milwaukee a six-game lead over the Cards with five games left for both clubs.

- The first of three men to reach the distant center-field bleachers at New York's Polo Grounds with a home run drive after the bleachers were remodeled in 1923. This gent, playing for the Milwaukee Braves, hit a homer off the New York Giants' Jim Hearn on April 29, 1953, that carried an estimated 475 feet.

- The only player in major league history with at least three career home runs in the All-Star Game, League Championship and World Series. Through 1982, this individual had three homers in All-Star competition, five in Championship Series play and five in the World Series.

- The only American League pitcher to win an All-Star Game in the 20-year span from 1963 through 1982. Representing the Oakland A's, he was the starting and winning pitcher in the 1971 classic at Tiger Stadium as the A.L. won 6-4. He recorded the victory despite yielding three runs - all earned - in just three innings of work.

- One of only three players to collect 3,000 or more hits and not attain a lifetime batting average of .300. Called up to the majors at the end of the 1961 season, he played through 1979 with 3,023 hits for Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. His career batting average is .293.

- Philadelphia Phillies right fielder, whose three-run homer off Dick Radatz of the Boston Red Sox in the ninth inning of the 1964 All-Star game enabled the National League to defeat the American League 7-4 at New York's Shea Stadium.

- The only major leaguer to hit 300 career home runs and not have 30 or more in one year. Playing for the Detroit Tigers from 1953-74, he twice hit 29 homers in a season ('62 and '66).

- His 1930 hit total of 250 ranks as the highest non-leading figure in major league history. Never elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, this Philadelphia Phillie was second in the National League in 1930 to the New York Giants' Bill Terry, who had a N.L. record-tying 254 hits.

- The lone player in major league history to hit 50 home runs while striking out fewer than 50 times in the same season. Playing for the New York Giants in 1947, this player walloped 51 homers and struck out just 42 times.

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Abe, about black players in the National Hockey League. I believe the only two are Grant Fuhr, the goalie for the Edmonton Oilers, and Tony McKegny of Minnesota. Any more?

S. Bogner, Easton

I think you have the whole kit and kaboodle with those two. Willie O'Rea, I believe, was the first back to player in the NHL. He started with the Boston Bruins back in the '60s.

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Abe, would you verify my information that the very first "Hail Mary" pass was thrown by Roger Staubach in a playoff game. Would you tell your readers about the game and how the desperation pass was termed "Hail Mary"?

Thank you very much.

Todd Davis, Allentown

With 32 seconds left in the 1975 National Conference divisional playoff game at Bloomington, Minn., with Dallas trailing 14-10 to Minnesota, Staubach heaved a 50-yard pass to Drew Pearson.

Pearson, who had to come back for the ball, snatched it away from Vikings defenders Nate Wright and Terry Brown and rolled into the end zone.

Staubach termed the pass "Hail Mary" when he explained, "I guess it's a 'Hail Mary' pass . . . You throw it up and pray he catches it." Dallas coach Tom Landry noted, "Our only hope was to throw and hope for a miracle."

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Abe, I have a bundle of bucks bet on this. Didn't Al McGuire the former Marquette coach, say the phrase, "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."? I thought for sure that McGuire was the author; that is, until a recent argument with a client.

I'm 1,000-percent sure that this is a basketball saying, but now am skeptical that McGuire was the first to say it.

Would this be too difficult to track down?

Jim Kichline, Bethlehem

A basketball coach was the author, but you have the wrong coach.

Bill Fitch, who skippered the Cleveland Cavaliers for nine seasons before signing on with Boston, came up with the quip. In 1970-71, when the Cavs were the new kids on the block, one of the season'sthree expansion teams, Fitch was being commended for a close loss.

His response was: "Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and drive-in movies."